a little something i'm working on...

an a-z of fairly interesting inventions




more to come soon

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bit of a jumble

another lucky find

from the sunday market

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flickr

today i thought i'd just post a selection of my favourite pictures from my photostream.


how very self absorbed i am - i promise to post some links soon to some work from others that i'm loving.

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flea market friday

wow! that post was my 100th to date, so now we're onto triple figures - here's to the next 100!

i went for a stroll around kemp town in the winter sunshine today and stumbled across a flea market where i found these treasures:


these beer mats were 20p each and i was very tempted to buy many more but resisted - i especially like the Dutton's Ales one because of the colours.
i also found this wonderfully illustrated record sleeve (for 50p) which i couldn't resist. i love everything about it.


i've put all these finds up in my room to brighten up the place a bit, as the walls are still quite bare at the moment (apart from this one).

i also walked home from the shops along the seafront and it was ever so nice and sunny (a good day to live by the sea).
lovely.

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letterpress

on wednesday i had my letterpress induction at university which was ever so exciting as i've wanted to learn it for ages but have never had the chance. we did a few little experiments with type just to get us used to how it all works.

first each member of the group was asked to compose 2 lines of type just to test it out.
can you spot which one is mine?


then we got to have a little play with some of the ornaments.
i made this:


which i thought looked like an owl:



and finally we had a little cover printed so that we can make a little booklet out of the bits we'd done that day:



so all in all i didn't get to create anything amazingly exciting but now i've had my induction i can go in whenever i want and use the equipment. i think i'll spend a whole day in there next week. i can think of lots of things i'd like to try.

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my favourite things

1. Ebthjpg, 2. Play, 3. Elephant with hearts., 4. Zoographic Type, 5. Ramblin Worker Font, 6. plates from Mar! Thank you!, 7. delicate rose, 8. Untitled, 9. Untitled, 10. Untitled, 11. It Rains, 12. pink and white, 13. Untitled, 14. typewriter & hands, 15. Little birds, 16. Rainycloud, 17. Mr. Toast, 18. Untitled, 19. Finger Puppets, 20. birdie tags, 21. boat stamps, 22. Blue buttons, 23. New pine dresser for the attic., 24. tacky, 25. Untitled

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squirrel nutkin

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car boot / bundle of loot

on sunday i popped to the market at brighton station and would you look at what i found:


this little case is soooooo lovely and was only a couple of pounds - i think i'll use it as my school bag this week so it can be seen by many.

i also found a stall that was selling some nice old christmas decorations (which was extra nice as this week i have been feeling v.excited about the fact that christmas is on it's way). i got a whole bundle for £2:



i love the expressions on their faces and their cute hairstyles.
this bird was also in amongst them:


i can't wait until it's time to decorate the christmas tree now (i'm getting a bit ahead of myself i know).

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remember remember

whoooooooosh bang whizz


last night i went out to the bonfire night celebrations in lewes (a small town outside brighton). they are very into their bonfire celebrations and have 7 different bonfire societies all competing against each other with different fireworks sites around the village.

first we watched all the societies marching around the town centre (which went on for a good while) - they had flaming torches and numerous different costumes and were parading with exploding drums and such like. It was a tad scary and noisy at times but it was also rather exciting.

and after all the parading and the marching it was time to watch the fireworks:




i do like fireworks

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n is for november

& nice things

i thought i'd share some of the things i have been liking very much of late.
firstly there's this postcard that derek brought me back from his field trip (i think he got it in holland though i can't be sure).

Paul Thek, Required Reading

and then there's this lovely book that i found in my local library and just had to borrow so I could have a closer look. there are some very wonderful illustrations inside:



check out alice melvin's other work here.

another website i wanted to share was this one which showcases the work of catherine hamilton hammerton (a london based designer-maker).
it's such a lovely website to look through and i'm especially keen on the use of a typewriter for the text. yummy.

and last, but not least, is this knitting pattern that i purchased from mochimochi land yesterday.


i can't wait to get knitting and then i can pop one on my wall. i love it so.

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celebrate

h a p p y

b i r t h d a y

my first post was a year ago today.

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lemonade

hello

i feel ever so guilty for my lack of posts lately but that'll all change soon i promise.
tomorrow it'll be a year since i started my blog and I'm going to try and post daily from now onwards (or at least every couple of days). so stay tuned.

for now, here's a lemon to feast your eyes on.



i've been feeling about as creative as a lemon lately (which is not very creative). hopefully that'll all change soon too.

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boo!

surprise project







was it a surprise?

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hat trick

It's time to get knitting again.
innocent smoothies are doing their annual big knit campaign in aid of age concern, and this time I've heard about it in good time to send some little hats in.

I think i'll start knitting tomorrow,

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8 things

i've been a little rushed off my feet lately - what with relocating to brighton and having a project to get finished before I start my course - but i thought i could spare a couple of minutes to say 'hello'.

the illustration above is from the sequence I am working on at the moment. the project is all about surprising the audience and I won't go into what I am doing a the moment but lets just say I have found it a wee bit tricky. (being asked to surprise someone is almost as tough as trying to be witty). fingers crossed it all goes well on wednesday.

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anyway, the real reason i decided to post something today is because sally has tagged me (how exciting) so here goes:

THE RULES: "Each player starts with eight random facts/habits or embarrassing things about themselves. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged, and to read your blog."

1. One of the 1st things I did when I moved to Brighton was join the library. I'd really like to work in a library some day.

2. I don't like curry or the office, which are the two things in the world that everyone else thinks are the bees knees.

3. If I had been a boy my parents would have named me Martin.

4. I'm currently trying to learn french via podcast and I look forward to it raining so I can say "Il pleut" - I like the way it sounds.

5. I have a signed photograph of the chuckle brothers from when I met them at a pantomime when I was younger. (I'm also quite proud of the fact I've met them, god knows why)

6. I love donkeys. Whenever I drive to Brighton from home I try to take some carrots so I can stop and feed the donkeys on the way.



7. I can't function properly without tea. I am well and truly addicted.

8. I'm currently sleeping on an airbed because my bed isn't due to be delivered until the 8th october (which seems absolutely ages away).

and that's it!

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now, i'm going to tag sair, kate, lyzi, sabine & lucy (i know that's not 8 but it'll do.)

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relocation relocation

i've moved



hope i don't get too home sick

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p o l a n d












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penguins

look at this most lovely penguin my mum discovered when sorting through some of her old belongings.

he's mine now (and the little ones too) and they're all coming with me to brighton to sit happily in my new room.
on a shelf.

gosh, i hope i have shelves in my room.
if not i'd better hurry up and put some up.

a room without shelves is hardly a room at all.

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look after the pennies

i found one



a while back i posted about how i really wanted a piggybank for saving up my pennies (pounds) and the other day i found this little fellow in a charity shop. i love the flowery pattern on him, and how his nostrils look like commas. cute. hope i don't get too attached or i'll find it tricky to smash him when he gets full up.

i'm collecting 2 pound coins at the moment so if you have any spare then do send them in :-)

i realised today that i never posted a picture (or did i? correct me if I'm wrong) of these wonderful handcarved stamps i picked up at glastonbury festival:



i haven't got round to using them for much yet but I'm sure they'll come in handy (they are so nice!)

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weighing things up

oops - i've been neglecting my blog again.

I've been so very busy of late but i feel a BIG post is just around the corner so don't give up on me.

I've just finished working at the bookbinders and have just completed a freelance book project so will have plenty of time to post next week.

until then, here's an illustration that was scrapped from the recent project (but I still quite like)



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BA Hons

It's my mum's graduation ceremony tomorrow.

I made her a card:


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windy miller

a wee little windmill

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